Pune celebrated an eco friendly Ganesh festival

Ganesh Utsav is the most awaited festival in Pune city. People from all age groups participate in the celebration which leads to the sale of 7 lakhs Ganesha idols every year during the festival. 6 lakhs of these Ganesha idols are made out of Plaster Of Paris which gets immersed in the rivers and streams nearby during ‘Ganesh Visarjan’. From past decades, the rivers have gotten polluted due to these idols causing a massive damage to the environment and ecosystem. However, POP idols are more popular between devotees as they are lighter in weight and more attractive as compared to the ones made with clay. Pune Municipal Corporation, with the collaboration of NCL and Cummins India Foundation carried out an experiment in 2013 which was successful in making POP eco friendly with ammonium bicarbonate powder. This enables one to buy a POP idol of his choice and immerse it to obtain a rich fertilizer and sludge which has been tested and approved for making good quality bricks.

2017 being the quasquicentennial jubilee of Ganesh festival, Pune Municipal Corporation committed to supply 100 tonnes of this powder for free of cost at 189 centers across the city as an appeal for adoption of eco friendly ‘Ganesh Visarjan’.

To aware people of the eco friendly solution, Aarohanum was dedicated to spread the message through social media, community programs, workshops, school visits etc.